race

Reflecting on the day, I have mixed feelings about the race. On the one hand, a win is a win, even if the field wasn't that strong. I didn't think I had any expectations going into the race, but after seeing my splits, I was a bit disappointed. I think I'm comparing my splits of a 37 year-old to what I used to do when I was in my twenties. There's no winning here. Not only am I older, but I'm also not training as intensely. I think that's why so many of my friends who are former college swimmers refuse to races masters; they know they can't help but to compare to their best times. I was a bit restless from all the training and wanted to go out and test myself. With no speedwork, I decided to race and see where I'm at with my fitness. What I learned: my swim is unfortunate, my cycling is stronger than ever, my run still needs some work, I stuffed my used gels down my shorts to avoid littering, and the sun is setting on my time as a competitive racer. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm really this slow on the swim or if it is my wetsuit. I don't know why I keep wearing the Zoot Zenith, I've only had one good swim in the suit in 9+ tries. I'm such a slave to fashion and can't seem to give up this suit because it looks so cool and matches my race kit. I'll train harder in the swim in the next couple of weeks and give this suit one more chance. Out on the bike, I took advantage of the slight headwind and mashed the big gears as thought I was climbing. My plan was to push big gears and keep my heartrate low, saving the higher beats for the run. I biked myself into 5th place and held it until mile 16 or so when a pack of three guys came up on me, all drafting. Of course I gave them the lecture and told them that you actually have to drop back when you are being passed even if that means you have to tap your brakes. It fell on deaf ears and I was pissed so I put my head down and hammered pass all of them. Eventually though, they pulled me back in and I managed to keep them within sight for the last 4 miles, licking my chops waiting to take my revenge on the run. I'm actually glad they came by me because I was starting to hit that complacent zone as I had been riding by myself for over half the ride. They infused me with just the amount of hate I needed to get back into the hurt. Coming into T2, I knew my hamstrings were going to tighten up, always happens when I'm not in race shape, but I've learned to take deep belly breaths and avoid a full on cramp. Within the first half mile of the run, I pulled in and dropped the three drafters. I felt ok and decided to be conservative because it was getting hot and my hammies were twitching. The heat was starting to get to me and I decided to take myself out of the race, you know, when you just let your eyes roll back into your head, and take yourself somewehere else. Big mistake as I missed a left-hand turn and after doubling back, I lost about 20 seconds and found myself down one spot with two others now on my heel. I looked at this as a test of my mettle and decided to rise to the challenge. I passed him back up and was now in fourth but I knew the heat was coming from both the sun and the pure runners chasing me down. I held it together and managed the crisis and held my position. Since my swim has been weaker the past two years, I've been racing more at the back and see what really goes on. It's a bit disheartening seeing how much blatant drafting occurs. I'm pretty much convinced that the only ones who are truly racing solo are the handful of guys at the front. However, this does make my former wins a bit sweeter because I usually raced at the front. After I saw that I had won my age-group, I must say that I felt winning was a bit overrated. I don't recall racing to win my age-group today, I recall racing to push myself and getting pass my perceived limits, which I think I did pretty well today. Next time, I want to thank more volunteers and give more encouragement to my fellow competitors. I think this racing awareness thing just might be more fun than racing for a podium spot.